Complicated Siblings
by Karen Hikari
Summary: "And you are technically my brother, aren't you?" she finally said, raising her right hand to ruffle Frank's hair, for what the son of Mars could only feel surprised; for a brief second, he thought he'd recognized something akin to fondness in Clarisse's eyes, but it disappeared as soon as it had arrived.


**Funny thing, really. I was just seeing some fanart in Pinterest and then a drawing with Clarisse and Frank appeared. Later, while talking with a friend of mine this idea took form and well... I just wrote it down.**

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 ** _Complicated Siblings_**

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There had always been a tacit rule at Half-Blood Camp that dictated that no daughter or son of Aphrodite could ever get along well with a son or daughter of Ares. Yes, their parents could be lovers and whatsoever, but that did not mean anything for the campers, for whom parentage came to be something almost unimportant.

You could not walk around a camp filled with more than two-hundred people asking yourself what was your relationship with each and every one when you were actually related to each and every one of them one way or another.

That rule had once upon a time been broken, when Clarisse la Rue and Silena Beauregard had become close friends, but with Silena's death, it was over now.

Maybe that was the first and main reason as to why Drew had started that fight, but you could never be sure with that girl.

It started a little after breakfast. The war with Gaea was over and probably for the first time, Greeks and Romans could go from one camp to the other freely.

Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque had arrived to Half-Blood Camp that morning, while ironically and unplanned-ly, Annabeth and Percy had left the night before heading for the Roman Camp.

However it had started, the thing was that Drew Tanaka was currently _talking_ to Frank in what most certainly was not the nice, kind manner one expected from a daughter of Aphrodite.

Most people presently argued that the old rivalry between Greeks and Romans had died, but some people were still wary of the other camp, and especially, the other _campers_. And some people, like Drew, for example, liked to show that wariness by humiliating others, which was not something new or surprising for the Greek campers, but it was a bit hard to imagine that someone as nice as Piper could be Drew's sister –even if it was only on their godly side.

Never mind the beginning, a few moments after breakfast had finished, just when Hazel and Frank had arrived, Drew approached the two of them, especially the son of Mars, speaking words to him that he hadn't heard since his return from the quest in Alaska.

"So" the daughter of Aphrodite said, raising a perfectly groomed eyebrow. "I've heard you are a lame excuse for a son of Ares".

"Excuse me?" he inquired, slightly confused as he turned to face her.

""What you heard, dear" Drew continued, blinking her beautiful eyes coquettishly. "But really, a son of the war that looks… like this?" she questioned, gesturing widely for his whole body.

"That's not nice" Hazel argued, shifting her weight awkwardly from one foot to the other, like she always did when she sensed trouble coming.

"And what do we have here?" she asked loudly, turning to Hazel as if she had just noticed the girl was standing there in the first place. Drew's attractive features shifted into an exaggerated expression of disgust as she eyed her critically. "A daughter of the Underworld?" she wondered aloud, her voice reaching a tone akin to pity.

"What's wrong with my parentage?" Hazel retorted weakly.

"Nothing, sweetie, nothing" Drew purred dismissively, turning to Frank once again. "But you, my dear, do have some serious problems with yours. One thing are the sons of Ares here" she said, pointing in Cabin's 5 direction. "Bad enough already, but I guess the moving to Rome didn't favor Ares in the least, now, did it?"

Frank was just trying to come up with a retort that would shut Drew up when out of nowhere, an anonymous shadow appeared and delivered a sharp blow to the daughter of Aphrodite that sent her flying first until she finally landed butt-first in the floor, with a very indignant and shocked expression, crimson blood dripping slowly from her nose.

Right in front of Frank and Hazel now stood a tall girl. From what Hazel could see she had broad shoulders and straight brunette hair pulled back in a high ponytail with a red bandana. She was wearing the usual orange t-shirt from the camp and trousers with military print.

"Enough" she said with a hoarse voice. "I understand you doubting Frank Zhang, but I will not allow you to talk shit about my cabin, understand?"

Frank turned to look at Hazel in shock. Had this girl just sad 'my cabin'?

"Bothered I'm speaking the truth?" Drew managed in a high pitch, slowly raising her right hand to her nose and attempting to stop the bleeding. "This was a nice shirt, you know?" she hissed. The newcomer only grunted indifferently.

Curiously enough, in that moment Piper happened to be walking straight down the path Frank and the others were standing in, holding hands with Jason. As soon as she saw the Roman demigods she hurried to bring Jason's attention upon it and seeing the potentially dangerous scene they had right in front of them, they both hurried to catch up with them.

"Clarisse!" Piper called, almost screaming. "What happened now?" the daughter of Aphrodite tiredly knelt next to Drew, sending a glance that was both amused and curious to the daughter of Ares.

"Just shutting her pretty mouth up, princess" the girl –now identified as Clarisse– retorted dryly.

"You know this could get you in trouble, don't you, Clarisse?" Piper inquired patiently, her velvety voice in a matter-of-fact tone. Her interlocutor only grunted as response.

"It most certainly _will_ get her in trouble!" Drew complaint, though they all utterly ignored her.

Piper refrained the urge to roll her eyes and instead helped Drew to her feet, receiving a hateful glare from her half-sister.

"Hi guys" she said, directing to turn Frank and Hazel and receiving a nod as answer before turning to Drew again. "And as for you, we should probably get that checked in the infirmary" she said, pointing to the girl's nose when they were both standing again.

Drew groaned in a way very uncharacteristic of her, but accepted the arm Piper was offering her dramatically.

"See you met Drew" Jason mouthed to Frank.

"Bet we did" the son of Mars answered quietly. Jason only nodded understandably, as if he were remembering the first time he'd seen the Asian girl and were to prevent Frank that it had not been nice to encounter her by only his own facial expression. Frank could have sworn whatever had Drew's name on it was not something worth remembering.

Piper sent them an apologetic look and gave them a shy smile, as if to say 'I know she's a pain, but she's still in my cabin'.

Both Hazel and Frank nodded in Piper's direction, just as Drew started muttering something intelligible under her breath, something Frank could bet without mistaking that were complaints. Maybe that was all Drew really knew how to say, he thought, almost with pity. Almost.

Piper's brow furrowed as she let out a muffled sigh and the, with Jason's help started dragging Drew to the infirmary. The sooner they got Drew there, the sooner they would all get rid of her, after all.

"See you later, guys. And sorry" Piper said. Before turning around completely she glared at Clarisse, like one would do with a reckless child, a warning for the daughter of Ares not to cause any more trouble meanwhile she was gone. "And, I expect an explanation for this" she stated. Clarisse glared back at her, groaning throaty and with that, the daughter of Aphrodite was gone.

When the others were finally gone, Clarisse let out a tired sigh and massaged her temples slowly, closing her eyes for a moment before turning to face Frank and Hazel, her eyes now open again.

She eyed both of the, carefully, like one would do with a piece of clothing, deciding whether if she liked it or not.

"Frank Zhang, I understand. Clarisse La Rue, head counselor of Cabin 5, Ares'." she finally said, extending her right hand to the boy. Frank could hardly nod, let alone shake the girl's hand, but he forced himself to do it anyways. So this was Clarisse La Rue, he thought. In Percy's words, the biggest pain you could find on Camp Half-Blood, though Frank was now tempted to ask the son of Poseidon if he had me Drew so far. "And Hazel Levesque, right?" she muttered, bringing Frank back from his thoughts, to what the daughter of Pluto could only nod silently.

"I–" Frank started to say, only to drift off. He finally turned her eyes to the ground. "Thank you for a moment ago" he murmured sheepishly.

Clarisse let out another sigh, this time a much sifter one, until finally, a tiny smile crept to her lips.

"I can't let you bring shame on the cabin, kiddo" she warned, but her voice lacked that hard tone from before and now sounded more like someone putting up excuses for justifying her actions. "And you are technically my brother, aren't you?" she finally said, raising her right hand to ruffle Frank's hair, for what the son of Mars could only feel surprised; for a brief second, he thought he'd recognized something akin to fondness in Clarisse's eyes, but it disappeared as soon as it had arrived.

Clarisse cleared her throat awkwardly, as if only then did she realize what she'd been doing just a moment before.

"Now, the important thing" she said. "I'mma smash some losers in the arena" she warned before turning around, her voice harsh and dry again; the Clarisse the whole camp knew, not the one she allowed herself to be with her family and friends only. "Try not to get yourselves killed in the camp, Romans" she muttered before turning around to leave, indeed heading the arena.

When they were finally alone again, Frank turned to look at Hazel, both of their eyes slightly clouded with confusion. He let out a tired sigh.

"So that's your sister?" Hazel inquired, almost as if to assure herself.

Frank nodded slowly. "And I thought your brother was difficult…" he managed to say.

"Hey!" Hazel nagged while punching him gently in the arm, but she smiled nevertheless. "At least I only have one sibling" she pointed out playfully. "You have yet to know most of your cabin…" she insinuated.

"Don't even remind me about that" he sighed, encircling Hazel's waist and pulling her closer to him. She let him do, resting her head on his left shoulder when they were close enough.

"C'mon, it can't be _that_ bad…" Hazel offered.

"I hope so" Frank said aloud, but inwardly, all he could think was 'Right, _what_ in this whole thing could go wrong? Is not like things _never_ go how we plan it or anything…'

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 **I'm not sure about this... Probably OOC on everyone, sorry about that.**

 **Please let me know your opinions!**


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